ZIP IT: GOP STUDENTS ‘INTIMIDATED’ ON CAMPUS, SAY VIEWS LESS TOLERATED, Paul Bedard writes at the Washington Examiner:
The rise of the Tea Party and a rowdy 2016 Republican presidential primary has done little to boost conservative speech on the nation’s college campuses where right-leaning students say they feel intimidated and their views sneered at.
In a poll sponsored by Yale University’s William F. Buckley Jr. program, 800 national undergrads said that by a nearly two-to-one margin, colleges were more tolerant to liberals. Pollster Jim McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates, found that 37 percent felt school more tolerant of liberals views, just 20 percent of conservatives, and 36 percent equally tolerant.
And while students believed their schools do a good job to bolster intellectual diversity, half, or 49 percent, said they have “often felt intimidated to share beliefs other than their professors.” And 50 percent felt intimidated to share their thoughts with students whose views differ.
Perhaps young conservatives should consider this a preview of what to expect when they enter the Brave New Workplace of the 21st century. Particularly old media; as the late Washington Post ombudswoman Deborah Howell wrote immediately after the 2008 election, “Journalism naturally draws liberals; we like to change the world*. I’ll bet that most Post journalists voted for Obama. I did. There are centrists at The Post as well. But the conservatives I know here feel so outnumbered that they don’t even want to be quoted by name in a memo:”
Journalists bristle at the thought of their coverage being viewed as unfair or unbalanced; they believe that their decisions are journalistically reasonable and that their politics do not affect how they cover and display stories. [Stop laughing. – Ed]
Tom Rosenstiel, a former political reporter who directs the Project for Excellence in Journalism, said, “The perception of liberal bias is a problem by itself for the news media. It’s not okay to dismiss it. Conservatives who think the press is deliberately trying to help Democrats are wrong. [Dammit, stop laughing! – Ed] But conservatives are right that journalism has too many liberals and not enough conservatives. It’s inconceivable that that is irrelevant.”
And yeah, the MSM has worked ever so hard to correct that imbalance in the last six years. And to bring this post full circle, as Thomas Sowell once wrote, “The next time some academics tell you how important diversity is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department.”
*And bury the news when it doesn’t work out so well.